


I Wait for Light Like Water From the Sky

by Bara_no_Uta



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Poisoning, post 2x12 Luthors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-25 06:07:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9806540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bara_no_Uta/pseuds/Bara_no_Uta
Summary: Kara is there when she wakes up in the hospital where Supergirl must have taken her. For the first time in two decades, someone just holds Lena, letting her cry and talk it out.She needs a friend, but she also needs answers. Of course, visiting Lex by herself may not have been one of her best ideas...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I usually try to write a whole fic and then post all the chapters at once rather than post chapter-by-chapter, but I want to get this out here now in case something happens in the next couple of episodes that makes it more canon-divergent than I realized/intended.  
> Chapters will probably be weekly or potentially bi-weekly.

            When Lena came to, Kara was by her side. That was the first thing she saw, and she closed her eyes again out of a certainty she was dreaming. If Kara’s presence was a dream, she didn’t want to wake up just yet.

            Then she felt a small squeeze of her hand. Lena automatically reciprocated the gesture… until her still groggy mind processed that she wasn’t alone and she panicked, afraid it could be her mother. Without warning, she wrenched her hand away as she threw herself into a sitting position and jerked away from the unknown presence. The force nearly caused her to fall off the bed, but the next thing she knew there was a hand on her arm, preventing her from falling, and a familiar voice soothing,

            “Easy… It’s just me. You’re okay.”

             Just like that, her fears were calmed. She took a deep breath and finally looked at Kara. There was warmth in Kara’s gaze – a kind of warmth that had never before been directed at her. Not by anyone but Kara. Overwhelmed by it, she looked away, taking in the room. She was in a hospital, she noted.

           “I don’t know how much you remember, but you—Supergirl said you were knocked out trying to protect her. She made sure you got out safely and brought you here, but, um… She thought that when you woke up, you’d need a friend more than a hero.”

            Kara was her hero as well as her friend, but before she could summon the words, Kara was speaking again.

            “How are you feeling?”

            “Mm…” She took a moment to mentally assess herself. “My head hurts, but otherwise, just a little tired. Have you been waiting long?”

            “No. I mean, I don’t know. I don’t mind.” Kara returned to her chair on the other side of Lena’s bed, grateful that Lena hadn’t seemed to notice her using superspeed to stop her from falling.

            “Well, I appreciate it.” She smiled softly, though her eyes were distant as she couldn’t help comparing it to the stark difference of her jail cell. It wasn’t the most alone she had felt in her life – not by a long shot – but it was definitely lonely.

            Then Lena started to think about her mother, and the tears welled again. She pulled the blanket up as she could feel herself trembling, but she knew it wasn’t from cold.

            “Hey…” Kara murmured, reaching out but stopping just short of touching Lena’s arm.

            She took a shaky breath and tried to smile, as though that would push everything else away. With Kara there, she was able to manage a real smile, but it didn’t erase the pain in her heart. It felt physical, but she didn’t say anything of it, because she knew better. “So. I imagine your boss is going to want an article on me in the morning.”

            “That’s not why I’m here,” she promised, heart aching in empathy.

            “I know. I know that now. I’m sorry for what I said before.”

            “It’s okay.” She was about to ask whether Lena was okay, too, but stopped herself. It was a stupid question; how could Lena be okay right now? Instead, she asked, “Can I give you a hug?”

            She looked at Kara, who she knew really and truly meant it, and gave a small nod. “I would like that,” she confessed, her voice breaking.

            Kara got right onto the bed and pulled her into a close hug. She rubbed Lena’s back, not intending to let go for a while. “Do you want to talk about it? Completely off the record, I promise.”

            She shook her head. “It can be on. I trust you.”

            “Okay. I’ll make sure you finally get the recognition you deserve,” she promised, pulling Lena just a little closer. She wouldn't put in anything too personal, but she would make sure that this article showed Lena as the hero Kara knew her to be.

            Part of her had been bracing herself for when Kara inevitably pulled away too soon, but when Kara held her closer, still rubbing her back, she realized that this was _Kara_. She could trust her. Lena’s body was still shaking, which she understood to some degree intellectually. Her body was discharging the fear and trauma from earlier now that it was safe to do so. And she really did feel safe with Kara there. Despite the difference she assumed there to be in their physical strength, she was sure that she wouldn’t feel this safe with even Supergirl. Lena sunk further into the hug, her hands relaxing – she hadn’t even realized, but she had been gripping the back of Kara’s shirt like a lifeline. “I’m not scared,” she clarified.

            “It’s okay to be scared,” she assured her, certain that it was a front.

            “No, I mean it. I feel safe with you, Kara.” She took a moment, almost a little surprised with herself for how easily the admission had come. “The shaking is just a delayed physiological response to what happened before, I think.”

            She didn’t understand it completely, but she got the gist of it. She could only imagine how afraid Lena must have been before her rescue, so it wasn't a surprise if she still needed some time to calm down from it. “Okay.”

            Lena debated where to begin. She wasn’t sure if she could ‘talk about it’ without completely pouring her heart out, and she didn’t know whether that was really okay. It had been ingrained into her never to show weakness, and while she knew it was different with Kara, she decided she should at least let her make an informed decision. “There’s… rather a lot to tell. I understand if you would rather leave it for now; you must want to go home and go to bed.”

            Kara shook her head. “I want to hear. However much you want to tell me.”

            There was a silent assertion to Kara’s second sentence – something like a promise there was no time limit. “I don’t even know where to begin,” she admitted, overwhelm washing over her as she began to realize the sheer amount of things that had happened.

            Kara didn’t say anything, just waited, letting Lena speak when she was ready.

            Her shaking had calmed, but a couple more tremors went through her as she went over the day’s events. She felt Kara give a gentle squeeze of reassurance, and that gave her the courage to begin. “For now, I’ll just start from when Corbin took me.” The matter of her father being… really, biologically, her father, was a whole other matter that she was really not ready to address at the moment. “He took me to a van. Of course my mother was there. I tried to get out but she stopped me."

            Lena sighed. “You know, I should really… I should have known by now. I can’t believe I fell for it _again_ , but…” She shifted a little so that her head, turned to the side, was tucked under Kara’s chin. She wanted to burrow into her, but Kara needed to be able to hear her speak. “She made it sound so convincing. And when she said I was already guilty in the eyes of others, that I had no one else, I was so sure that she was right. That even you would give up on me, and I’d have lost everything.

            “So when she said—When she said again that she loved me, that she wanted things to be right between us, and she wanted to love me like a mother should, I _believed_ her.” There was a tremble to her breath, and her lip trembled. “I can’t believe I fell for that _again_. There’s only one reason she’s ever shown me kindness or said she loves me, and that’s when she wants something from me.” She felt Kara’s arms tighten around her protectively. “I wanted to believe it,” she confessed, taking a sharp breath to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

            “Of course you did,” she murmured. “Everybody wants to be loved. Everybody wants a family.”

            The tears spilled, and she realized somewhere in the back of her mind that she hadn’t actually cried in front of anybody in years. And crying into somebody’s arms? She hadn’t done that since being adopted by the Luthors. “But it was a lie. Like always. She needed me to get access to some of Lex’s genocidal weapons.

            “Of course I refused. I should have run, but—I don’t know, I just…” She bit her lip, trying to hold back a sob. “I was naïve. I never realized she didn’t even care enough not to hurt me.”

            “Oh, Lena,” Kara breathed, otherwise speechless.

            “One of her Cadmus lackeys grabbed me and literally forced my hand… I tried to fight it, but he was stronger than me. I guess I should have known she wouldn’t be above that.” She wanted to wipe at her tears, but that would mean partly releasing her hug with Kara and she couldn’t bring herself to do that. “I know that she doesn’t hate me. She just doesn’t care. All she cares about is killing aliens.” A pause. “No… even before that, or at least I think it was before that, she never did care.”

            Lena remembered an old adage she had seen. _The opposite of love isn’t hate. It’s indifference_. Lex, too, had ended up indifferent to her. …That was a train of thought she wasn’t going to pursue. She didn’t want to feel sorry for herself. At least, not as long as she could help it.

            “I’m sorry. You deserve so much better than that.”

            She wasn’t sure whether Kara was right, but she really didn’t want to argue the point, nor did she see any merit in doing so. “She kept ignoring everything I said. She kept telling me that she was ‘protecting’ me and it was ‘for my own good,’ but I’m sure that she just wanted to make sure I didn’t run away and tell anybody about her plans and where she was. I mean, she…” Lena felt like she was barely holding herself together as the realization hit her. “When Supergirl got there, things were… looking very bad. And if Supergirl was the one to bring me here… My mother must have left me for dead.” A sob forced its way out, and when Kara started rubbing her back again, she finally gave in to the urge to hide her face in Kara’s shoulder.

            “I’m so sorry,” she all but whispered. “I’m so sorry, Lena.” Kara couldn’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like. She had felt abandoned by her parents on plenty of occasions, but at least she had always had the knowledge that they sent her and Kal-El to Earth in the hopes that they would be safe. She had always had a family, both birth and adoptive, who she never had to doubt loved her deeply. “I know it’s not the same, but… I promise, you aren’t alone anymore. You’ll always have me.”

            It was more than she had ever had before. She shifted her head just enough so that her voice wouldn’t be muffled as she said, “That’s more than enough.”

            “And that’s something you can always count on.”

            A soft smile reached her lips, even as her tears were only now beginning to taper out. She trusted Kara. “That means a lot to me.” Those words felt useless. Like a drop in the pond compared to how deeply she felt them. She needed some way to express that to Kara… but maybe not right now. Not tonight.

            Kara continued to hold her until, a couple of minutes after her tears had stopped, Lena pulled away. “Thank you,” Lena said. It was emphatic, and yet still not enough.

            “Any time. …I really mean that, okay?”

            She smiled again. Kara was truly amazing, and Lena was sure that she didn’t deserve a friend like her, but she desperately wanted it regardless. “Did that cover what you need for your article?”

            “Yeah. I mean, I won’t—I won’t say anything about things between you and your mother. Just how you were kidnapped and that you didn’t want any part in her activities. More importantly, how do you feel?”

            Another assessment of herself. “Much better, strangely enough. I know they say you’ll feel better if you talk about things, but I’ve not been given many opportunities to test that out.”

            “Well, you’ll have as many opportunities as you want now.” She placed a hand on Lena’s shoulder. It was in her nature to be protective, and in that moment, she couldn’t help but to wish she could do so much more for Lena. Lena had been in so much pain…

            “Thank you. Truly.” Her smile faltered. “I actually have another request, if you don’t mind. Of course, you’re completely free to say no. But… I’m sure the police will want to hear about what happened, and they should know – and Supergirl should know – about some… certain things.” She felt small, crossing her arms protectively as she admitted, “I don’t know if they’ll let you, but if they do, I would really like it if you were there. Not because of Supergirl, but because, I…

            “The police all hate me because I’m a Luthor. When I was in jail, the guards even openly insulted me. And I can take it—it’s nothing I’m not used to. I can manage by myself… you probably have better things to do… but if you would be okay with it, it would mean a lot to me if you were there.”

            “Of course I’ll go with you.” She offered a reassuring smile. “And… I do have a friend on the police force. I don’t know how much I can promise, but I’m sure she doesn’t hate you, and she won’t insult you.”

            “Is that the officer who arrested me?” she asked quietly, remembering that they had clearly known each other from elsewhere.

            “Yeah. I’m really sorry about that.”

            “She was just doing her job. I can’t say it didn’t come as a shock – and outrage, considering that I knew I was innocent – but she didn’t know me, and it may not have even been her decision to arrest me. And she wasn’t unnecessarily rough like some of the others. And it certainly wasn’t your decision, so neither of you have any reason to be sorry.”

            “I’m still sorry that you had to go through so much. And I’m sorry if… that I probably… pressured you into seeing your mother.”

            Lena reached for Kara’s hand, resting her own on top of it. “You had my best interests at heart. Besides, it’s not like you could have possibly predicted that it would end up the way that it did.”

            She nodded, acknowledging the logic but still blaming herself. Kara turned her hand to hold Lena’s. They sat in comfortable silence a while, until a nurse came in on his rounds.

            “Oh, good, you’re up. Let’s give you a quick check-up, okay?”

            Lena nodded, then turned her attention back to Kara. “I’ll be alright now. You should go home and get some sleep.”

            She lightly squeezed Lena’s hand. “I can stay, if you don’t want to be alone. Or, I mean, even if I leave, you aren’t _alone_ – I’m just a phone call or text away – but you know what I mean.”

            She couldn’t help but to smile. Kara was so loving that she felt like her heart might burst. “Honestly, I’m probably just going to go to sleep after this.”

            “Okay. Then I’m gonna go home and do the same, but if you need anything, let me know. Anytime.”

            Lena released Kara’s hand to give her a brief hug. “Thank you.”

            She watched Kara leave. Lena still couldn’t believe she had managed to get a friend as wonderful as Kara.

            The nurse had readied some of the assessment tools as they spoke. “You two must be really close,” he commented. “Normally we really wouldn’t allow visitors this late, but she was very… insistent.” He spoke casually as he began the basic checks. “I think that’s really sweet. My cousins and I aren’t that close.”

            Cousins, huh? She smiled. Granted, nobody would believe they were sisters – for starters, everybody knew she was ‘the last Luthor.’ Well, whatever excuse she made, Lena appreciated it immensely.

            As she began to drift off to sleep, after having gotten a clean bill of health and been discharged from the hospital, Lena tried to brainstorm ways she could show her appreciation to Kara tomorrow. Maybe some flowers…? No, a bouquet wasn’t enough… Never enough flowers…

            Her thoughts were already fuzzy from sleep, and exhaustion took over all but immediately after she closed her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer that I'm not in law enforcement, nor am I a medical professional, so I apologize if there are things in here that's really not how things actually work.

            “Ms. Luthor? We’re ready for you.”

            Lena and Kara automatically stood, seeing Maggie come into the lobby.

            Maggie smiled, then paused and gave a questioning look at Kara.

            “Can I come with her?” Kara asked, catching the look. Maggie didn’t seem opposed, just surprised, which was a good sign.

            Maggie thought it over. It wasn’t exactly orthodox, but she couldn’t think of any reason not to. “I don’t see any reason why not. It’s up to you, Ms. Luthor.”

            “I want her there.”

            She nodded in acknowledgement. “Alright. …As a friend of Kara’s, I hope sometime we can meet under better circumstances.”

            “Me, too.”

            The three of them went to a room. Maggie pulled up a second chair opposite her desk so Kara and Lena could sit near each other, then went to her desk and readied her notebook. “So, in your own words, what happened when Metallo took you from the jail cell?”

            “I heard quite a lot of commotion and went to see what was going on. When I saw him, I moved away – I didn’t know why he was there, but it goes without saying that it was bad news. He took out the door to my cell, and I tried to resist, but he picked me up and forcibly carried me out. He put me in the back of a van, where my mother was already there and waiting.”

           “Do you know where the van was going?” She already knew where it went due to teaming up with the DEO, but she wanted to see what Lena would say.

            Lena shook her head. “Supergirl must know – she saved me – but I wasn’t exactly paying attention to my surroundings.”

            “What were you paying attention to?”

            “Wondering where in the world they were taking me, and more importantly, what they were up to. And wanting to get back, knowing disappearing would only make me look guiltier. I even tried to get out, but… that didn’t work out, obviously.”

            “Why didn’t it?”

            Lena quirked an eyebrow. “…Detective Sawyer, was it? What exactly do you think would have happened had I jumped out of a moving van in the middle of nowhere?”

            Were she not on the job, she would have smiled and acknowledged the point. However, it was just as Lena said. She wasn’t Maggie right now – she was Detective Sawyer, and that meant putting her personal feelings aside if they risked getting in the way of her job. “True, but was that the only reason?”

            She shifted uncomfortably, wondering what had tipped Maggie off. She supposed the officer must have had training on reading people and knowing when they were leaving out information. “My mother managed to convince me that perhaps this time would be different,” she said smoothly. “That she wasn’t up to anything, for once.”

            Lena wasn’t exactly volunteering information, but she had certainly had worse. “I’m sorry to keep pushing, but this does involve National City’s current most wanted criminal. Could you explain more?”

            She nodded. it wasn’t exactly something she wanted to talk about, but she understood. It wasn’t relevant to the investigation, in her opinion, but she understood that Maggie couldn’t exactly just take her word for that. Lena glanced at Kara, who offered a gentle and reassuring smile when their eyes met, and she took courage from that. “She told me that she just wanted us to be a family. That deep down, she did love me as a mother should.” Lena shook her head, looking up and away from Maggie as her eyes became wet. She gave a forced, bitter laugh. “I thought I knew better than to fall for that by now, but clearly not. My mother only tells me she loves me when she wants something. But I sat back down and believed that maybe, just maybe, for once, it wasn’t a lie.”

            Kara reached for Lena’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She heard a soft exhale, like Lena was able to breathe easier with the touch.

            “Thank you,” Maggie said softly. She knew it couldn’t have been easy for Lena to share that. It made her glad that Kara was there. Sure, she didn’t know Lena, and she still didn’t _quite_ trust her. But that didn’t mean she didn’t care that Lena was in pain. “Can you tell me about where the van went?”

            Lena nodded. “It went to… Apparently, Lex had various hidden bases scattered around, and this was one of them. As I said, I have no idea where it was, geographically speaking. But my mother said he had saved emergency rations there that we could survive off of for a while. Of course, her plans are never that simple.

            “It turns out the base had a massive arsenal… to put it lightly. And the reason my mother put up the front she did was because I was the only one who could access it. …Short of Lex, obviously.”

            “Why were you able to access it?”

            Lena heard what she was sure to be the real question. Had she ever worked with Lex? “I don’t know why he set it that way. I don’t know if he even knew I would be able to open it. I also don’t know if now that I’ve opened one, my mother has a means of duplicating that to the other arsenals in the other bases, nor where the other bases are. But if the police find the other bases, I’m happy to help you get access.”

            “I appreciate the offer.” The chances of anyone accepting that were slim, considering that it would mean Lena being between them and massive amounts of who knew what deadly weapons, but she did appreciate it. “But I need to know about how the arsenal was protected.”

            Her gaze drifted to Kara, who she still hadn’t told about the truth of her paternity. This wasn’t how she had wanted Kara to find out. “It was a biometric scanner.”

            “And he set it to accept his and yours, but not your mother’s?”

            Lena squeezed Kara’s hand, seeking reassurance. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this yet – I’m not sure I’ve completely processed it myself, and with everything else that’s happened…”

            Kara gave a reassuring smile. “It’s okay. I understand.”

            “The Luthors adopted me,” she began, adding that for Maggie’s benefit but keeping her gaze on Kara. “And trust me when I say I was made _very_ aware of that fact. But it turns out there was one thing they hadn’t told me.” She took a deep breath. “It’s true that I wasn’t my mother’s daughter. Rather, apparently I’m the result of an affair my father had.” She smiled bitterly. “Of course, I only found this out a couple of days ago, when I visited my mother.”

            Kara itched to give her a hug, but now didn’t seem the right time. Later, though, she definitely would. For now, she just hoped that her expression conveyed her empathy.

            And it did. Lena looked away, though smiling slightly, as she felt overwhelmed again by the knowledge of how genuinely Kara cared about her. “Lex set it to scan for Luthor DNA. I don’t know why. Our father is dead, so he may have assumed he would be the only one able to open it.”

            Maggie nodded, writing down only what she needed to. She didn’t want Lena’s personal life to become public knowledge, even among the police, wherever that could be avoided. “What did you do, when you found out about the scanner?”

            “I told her I refused to open it, of course. Unfortunately, silly me, I had thought I actually had a say in the matter.” She averted her eyes again. “That delusion was proven wrong when one of her lackeys grabbed me and forced my hand. I resisted as best I could, but he was stronger. I tried to struggle, but he pushed my hand onto it anyway.”

            Maggie asked her about the arsenal, and Lena recalled the details as best she could. “And when Supergirl arrived?”

            “It’s a bit of a blur. I remember Supergirl being there and Metallo attacking her, and I tried to protect her, but the other lackey knocked me out. I didn’t come to until a while after Supergirl took me to the hospital, so I don’t know what exactly happened after that.”

            “Alright. Thank you for your time. May I have a number to contact you if we need to ask anymore questions?”

            Lena handed Maggie a business card from her purse. It was only her business number, but she preferred to reserve her cell phone for purely personal matters.

            “Alright.” She stood, and when Lena did the same, she came over to shake her hand. “I really do hope we can meet under better circumstances sometime.”

            “I’ll make sure of it,” Kara said. Reluctantly, she released Lena’s hand. “I’ll make sure Supergirl comes to tell you what she knows,” she told Maggie. Her attention went back to Lena as she added, “I’ll fill you in, too, on what she says. If you want me to.”

            “Mm, perhaps.” Lena crossed her arms. “If there’s anything you think I should know, I’d like to hear it. But I think I may already know everything I need to know. My mother ran away, saving herself and leaving me for dead. Correct?”

            Kara bit her lip. “Yeah. I mean, that’s what it sounded like.”

            She nodded. The confirmation stung, but she appreciated Kara’s honesty. “Then, short of anything I can do to help make sure she’s arrested, I don’t care.”

            Kara took Lena’s hand again. “Want to go get donuts or something?”

            Without saying anything, Lena gave Kara’s hand a small tug, indicating she wanted to discuss the matter alone.

            “I’ll see you later, Maggie,” Kara said, waving with her free hand.

           Maggie found the last bit of the exchange odd, but she kept that to herself for now, smiling and waving back. “‘Course, Little Danvers.”

            The two of them went outside, Lena finally stopping only when they were several feet away on the sidewalk. “I think I need to see Lex. I need to know why he programmed the scanner that way. If… he knew. For him to set it to use Luthor DNA seems unnecessary and careless if he only wanted it to recognize him. And since I rather doubt he was expecting our father to rise from the grave and help him out…”

            Kara exhaled slowly. He had tried to kill Lena, and it was hard for her to put that aside and say she thought it was a good idea. But she did understand. “Do you want Supergirl to go with you?”

            She shook her head. “I think this is something I need to do on my own. But thank you, Kara, for all your support. It means the world to me.”

            Kara finally pulled her into a hug.

            Lena reciprocated easily, relaxing into the touch. She had never realized how touch-starved she was until Kara came into her life… But Kara wasn’t going anywhere, she reminded herself. She pulled away, smiling. Knowing it wouldn’t be the last hug she was allowed.

            “Are you going to go now?” Kara asked, guessing it from Lena’s declining donuts.

            She nodded. “Yes. I want to get it over with.”

            “Okay. Be careful, okay? Call me if you need _anything_.”

            Lena smiled, deeply appreciative. “I’ll be fine, but thank you.”

            “Let me know how it goes?” She didn’t mean to pry, but she was worried. That was just in her nature.

            “Alright.” Her smile turned from genuine to a mask as she added, “If you haven’t heard from me by—” Lena checked her watch. “—say, 5 o’clock… you can call me, or send Supergirl to check on things.”

            In other words, Lena knew the risk of going to see him and was still sure of her decision. It was so, so hard for her not to try to convince Lena to let her or Supergirl come along to protect her, but she forced herself to accept Lena’s decision. “Okay.”

            The worry was clear in Kara’s eyes, but Lena chose not to comment on it. She knew exactly why Kara was worried, and she knew that she couldn’t guarantee Kara her safety. “Thank you for understanding,” she said instead.

* * *

 

            “Well. I never thought I’d see the day. My little sis dropping by for a visit.”

            “Save the pleasantries,” she hissed, though his tone wasn’t pleasant to begin with. Neither was there anything pleasant about the dark room, seated across from each other at a table that was too much space for a normal conversation and yet not enough space to truly feel safe, Lex’s hands cuffed and chained to the table.

            “Sure. That is the Luthor way, isn’t it? Seeing someone just to get what you want?”

            He had never been like this. Lena pushed down the thought that this _wasn’t him_ , because it was, and lying to herself like that only made things more painful. She gritted her teeth. “I assume you’ve heard the news. About Mother.”

            “I’ve heard a few things.”

            She decided to just assume he knew everything. Might as well, and she was beyond sick of rehashing it all. “Found one of your hidden bases.” She leaned forward and put her elbows on the table, her hands resting on it and clasped lightly, looking at him intensely. “Why did you set your arsenal to scan for Luthor DNA instead of just your own?”

            A sadistic smile formed. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? After all, who else is there with Luthor DNA?”

            “You bastard. You _knew._ How long?”

            He gave an overly nonchalant shrug. “You’d be surprised what a clever child might overhear. …I’m surprised you never figured it out before. Not so clever after all?”

            The one trait she had actually been praised about, thrown in her face as a lie. She faltered. Had it really been so obvious? Or was he just trying to get under her skin, just like their mother always did?

            No. Trying to distract her from her next question, perhaps, or something that was going to come down the road. She couldn’t let herself lose focus. “Why did you want me to have access?”

            “Maybe I just had hoped that my dear little sister would come over to the cause.”

            The cause. The cause. They kept calling it that, as though it wasn’t the complete eradication of an entire population from the planet. But more importantly… “You’re lying. By the time you built those bases, you would have known.” That she would never side with him on the “cause” that she had tried so hard to dissuade him from. By the time he built those bases, it might have even gotten to the point where she had simply given up.

            “Maybe you’re not so dull after all.” He scooted his chair back so that he was leaning forward. “Then again, you thought it would be a good idea to come see me.” Lex stood, clearly a dismissal.

            She still hadn’t gotten the other answer she needed. There was no way she was going to just walk away. She stood up so as to be closer to the same level as him, but crossed her arms. “We’re not done here.”

            “Maybe not, but you are.”

            Before Lena could react, the lights went out and she heard the sound of metal shattering. Her eyes had yet to adjust to the dark and she froze in fear, preventing her from moving out of the way when he lunged at her. All she knew was that she was pressed against a wall, hands gripping around her throat. She struggled against him, gasping for air. The next thing she knew something was being forced into her mouth and her body made her swallow.

            “Let’s see Supergirl save you from this.”

            In the dark, it was impossible not to have recognized the distinctive green glow of what she was forced to ingest. It was only moments later that she heard guards come in and Lex being dragged off, but it was too late. The damage had already been done.

            When the emergency lights came on, Lena was still standing there, a hand to her throat, touching lightly where she suspected bruises had probably already formed. Doubting anybody was going to bother asking if she was okay – really, she should consider herself lucky she hadn’t been arrested again – she decided it best just to go home. It was probably a good thing she had a driver rather than needing to transport herself, feeling dizzy from, most likely, the asphyxiation. Not so bad that she couldn’t walk, but she wouldn’t want to put herself in charge of operating a vehicle in light of it.

            When she got up to her apartment, she sat down and tried to figure out what her next course of action needed to be. She probably should call Kara – she had promised she would – but she didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily. It was still shy of 4:30, so she had some time to try to think up a solution. …Kara was definitely worrying about the outcome of her visit, but probably less so now than she would if she knew the truth of her situation.

            Lena went over in her head everything that she knew about kryptonite. It was toxic to Kryptonians. It was radioactive. Incidental exposure, or even exposure in transport, was no issue to humans. Hell, Metallo had it pumping through his veins.

            But Metallo was different. His body was full of metal. Lena was fairly certain that his literal organ of a heart must have been removed. If he lacked certain organs, then obviously, those organs couldn’t be damaged by the radiation. And her mother could also have braced him with something that stopped his body from absorbing the radiation.

            Though in the end, the kryptonite in his system had killed him anyway. There was no guarantee it wouldn’t kill her.

            But Lex surely had a different primary goal than trying to kill her. If that was all he wanted, she knew he could have done that in various ways without a single weapon. No. His goal was to get at Supergirl.

            Then she was in danger. If she needed Supergirl to save her, then surely Supergirl would come, and Supergirl would be weakened and caught off-guard by the kryptonite. It would be easy for someone – namely, her mother or that metal-eyed man – to take advantage of that weakness.

            She needed to get out of her apartment. Get to a public place—No. Then if something bad happened, word was certain to get back to Supergirl. But then again, if that was her mother’s goal, she was sure there was no way Supergirl wouldn’t find out.

            Her phone was ringing. It still wasn’t 5, but she was sure Kara was feeling impatient with worry. Having no idea what to tell her, she hesitated, but since the last thing she wanted was for Kara to send Supergirl after her, she couldn’t hesitate long.

            “Hello?”

            “Lena! Oh, thank goodness. I’m sorry, I know it’s not five yet; I was just worried—How did it go?”

            She gave a heavy sigh, leaning back against the couch. “Well, I’m still alive.” At least there was that. For now.

            Kara bit her lip. “That bad, huh?” For ‘not murdered’ to be the only good thing Lena could say about it, well… that spoke volumes. When Lena only gave a small sound of confirmation, she asked, “Do you want me to come over?”

            Did she want that? Kryptonite issue aside? “I think I would like that, but later. To be entirely honest, I don’t really feel up to company right now.”

            It was hard for her to take a step back when her friend was hurting, but she did understand just needing space sometimes. “Okay. Is there… I don’t know, anything I can bring you?”

            She wished there was something Kara could bring her that would ensure both her safety and, more importantly, Supergirl’s safety, but she knew there wasn’t. “Not really. But I appreciate the offer.”

            Kara drew her knees up to her chest on the couch. There was nothing worse to her than not being able to help someone. “Alright. I’ll let you go, then, if you want. But let me know if you do want company later? We don’t even have to talk about it. We can just hug. I’m really good at hugging, you know.”

            She laughed softly, and she couldn’t help but to think that no one but Kara could have elicited a laugh from her under these circumstances. “I may take you up on that. I’ll let you know when, but I can’t promise it will be today. Or tomorrow. I don’t know.” She just felt exhausted.

            “Lena, are… Will you be okay?”

            She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as her eyelashes came away wet. And now she had hesitated, and that plus her breath surely gave away that something was deeply wrong. With some people she may have tried to play it off, but she knew Kara was smarter than that. “I don’t know.” She looked up at the ceiling. “Lex still wants me dead. I think he may be working with our mother somehow. And this is probably a given, but they also want Supergirl dead.” She paused before adding, “I need you to promise me something. If something happens to me – if I get captured, I don’t care if they torture me or I’m dying, Supergirl _cannot_ come rescue me. I don’t want her to sacrifice herself for my sake.”

            “I can’t promise that!” The force behind her words may have been suspicious, for someone who was supposedly not Supergirl. “Lena, what?! And- And besides, she’s never not made it out of anything. She’s Supergirl; she always saves everybody!”

           “This is _different_. Kara, I need you to trust me on this. It could very well come down to my life or Supergirl’s, and I know she’s going to want to rush in, in the way that she always does, but think about it objectively. I’m one person who… sure, I’ve done some things that I would like to think had a positive impact, and I hope to do more. But she’s National City’s hero, in a way that I’m not capable of being. All of National City would feel terrified if they lost their protection and their _hope_. I imagine that goes doubly if it happened because she was protecting a villain, which is how most people still see me, rather than an innocent.

            “So please, I’m asking you not despite, but rather _because_ you’re my friend… my family. Make sure Supergirl doesn’t risk her life for me again.”

            “Lena, I’m sorry, but I just can’t promise that. I can and do promise that she’ll be as careful as she can, but there’s no way she’s going to give up on you.”

            She knew it would be a hard sell, but Lena was stubborn, and this was far too important to give in on. “Kara, _please_. I’m begging you. Each time she’s saved me has been a closer and closer call. There’s not much further it can escalate without killing her!”

            Kara’s free hand balled into a fist. “I can’t do it, Lena. There has to be another way.”

            Lena could tell that there was no dissuading her right now. It meant a lot to her that Kara cared so much about her life, but it was still an issue right now in the grand scheme of things. “Then can you at least promise me that you’ll tell her – honestly tell her, not skipping the details – what I said?”

            Well, it would be pretty hard for her not to. “I’ll make sure she knows how you feel.”

            “Okay.” It was a hugely significant concession, but it was the only one she was sure she could win.

            Now that that matter had been resolved, Lena noticed that she was starting to feel a little nauseous. It could just be because of the stressful and fear-provoking situation, she reminded herself. “Hey, Kara? It’s probably just the stress, but I’m suddenly not feeling very well. I think I’m going to go try to sleep it off, so don’t panic if you call and I don’t pick up, okay?”

            She could certainly understand that having one’s life in danger was absolutely terrifying. “Okay. I’ll probably text or call you later to check up on you, but I’ll keep that in mind. I hope you feel better.”

            “Thank you. I’ll… probably talk to you soon, then. At least relatively speaking.”

            “Yeah. Talk to you soon.”

            Lena ended the call. When she stood, a wave of dizziness washed over her and she gripped the couch, afraid of falling. Could it be in her head? It wouldn’t be the first time she had experienced various physical things when she was feeling anxious for a while, so it was really no surprise.

            The dizziness subsided, and she made her way to her bed. On the way there, she passed by the mirror. Sure enough, there were visibly finger-shaped bruises on her neck. She lightly touched one of them, self-conscious and wondering how she was going to hide them at work. She could take a sick day tomorrow, but she couldn’t just miss work until it healed.

            For now, she made her way to bed and let sleep overtake her.

            She should have known for sure the next morning that it wasn’t because of anxiety. She never had such an easy time falling asleep when that was the case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incidentally, I actually asked my mom how one could force a person to swallow something -- I knew I'd heard of pinching their nose but couldn't figure out how that wouldn't cause it to go down the airway -- and my fave thing is that she's so used to me being, uh, me, that she didn't even question why I'm writing a fic involving someone being forced to ingest kryptonite. In case you're wondering, restricting the airway works because the person has to gasp for air but before they can do that they reflexively swallow their spit so it isn't in the way. Or at least that's what my mom says. She is also not a medical professional, so I have no idea why she knows this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've gotten all the chapters written now -- I just need to do a final edit before I post them. I'd like to get them posted quickly. I tend to lose my confidence in multi-chapter works pretty quickly for some reason -- I read through it to post it and somehow, it doesn't feel as great as it did when I initially wrote and proofed it. But eh, I want to post it anyway. I've seen stories that I really loved get abandoned because the author found it not good enough, and I spent hours and hours of my rather limited free time on it.  
> As a side note, content warning for illness (you probably guessed that, but still) and vomiting (though with as little detail as possible). Those will apply through the rest of the story.

            When Lena’s eyes opened, she had to catch her breath from her nightmare. She curled up tighter on her side, noting that she felt even worse than she had before going to bed. In fact, she really felt like shit. Weak, feverish… this wasn’t the effects of her emotions anymore, she knew for a fact.

            Her phone was going off, she realized. Sure it must be Kara, she retrieved the phone from her nightstand without hesitation.

            “Hey,” Lena murmured.

            “Hey, oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, did I wake you up?” she rambled, hearing the tiredness in Lena’s voice.

            She smiled softly. “I don’t think so. Anyway, even if you did, it’s probably a good thing. I wasn’t sleeping terribly well.”

            Her next question had been whether Lena was feeling better, but that gave her pause. And suggested she wasn’t. “No?”

            “No. But it was just a nightmare. Nothing serious.”

            She wondered whether the nightmare was a coincidence. No, not feeling well because of everything going on and then having a nightmare didn’t seem like a coincidence. If Lena wasn’t feeling better… well, she didn’t know exactly what she would do, but she would do something. “How are you feeling?”

            Lena hesitated. But she had never lied to Kara before, and she didn’t intend to now. “Terrible.”

            “Because of earlier?” She hugged a couch pillow.

            “You could say that.” Should she tell Kara? She didn’t want to worry her…

            On the other hand, Lena realized, recalling Metallo… if she wasn’t able to come up with a way to neutralize the kryptonite in time, she could die. And since she could see it coming, Kara probably deserved to know. Because Kara, unlike everyone else Lena had ever thought cared about her, actually did care and would be heartbroken if she died.

            So as much as she didn’t want to, Lena knew she needed to come clean. “Actually, do you think you could come over? I know it’s probably getting late, but I… need to talk to you.”

            “Sure, of course. I’ll be there really soon, okay?”

            “Okay. Thank you, Kara.”

            “No problem. I’ll see you soon.” After a couple of seconds’ pause to give Lena the chance to speak up if she needed to, Kara ended the call.

            Lena was sure she looked like crap. For starters, she had slept in her makeup, which never worked out well. And more importantly, she felt like crap, so it stood to reason that she would look like it too. But when sitting up prompted a wave of dizziness and nausea, she really couldn’t care less about how she looked. She slowly, cautiously made her way to the couch, waiting restlessly for Kara’s arrival.

            Kara got there far quicker than any human should have been able to. She couldn’t help herself. Lena needed her. It was under five minutes later that she got to Lena’s high-rise.

            When she heard the knock, Lena was more than relieved. She checked the peep hole, of course, a stab of anxiety reminding her of her family’s plotting. But as soon as she confirmed it was Kara, she opened the door and pulled her into a hug. She had stopped initiating hugs long ago, back when she was a child and they were always rejected, but she trusted Kara not to reject her, and she _really_ needed a hug right now.

            As soon as Lena touched her, Kara was hit with the unmistakable feeling of kryptonite exposure, and she automatically stiffened, needing to figure out where it was and why it was there.

            Already having been implicitly taught to be sensitive to such matters, Lena noticed immediately when Kara stiffened, and she pulled away before Kara even had the chance to reciprocate on any level. She took a step back, wrapping her arms around herself and swallowing hard around the sudden lump in her throat. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed…”

            She was worried about the kryptonite, but as soon as Lena pulled away, she knew her reaction had hurt her deeply. “No, it’s okay. I didn’t mean to—I was just startled.” Which was true, although it wasn’t the hug that startled her. She opened her arms just a little. “I’m sorry. Can we try again?”

            Lena hesitated. She was instinctively afraid to trust, and she had put that aside for Kara only to feel rejected just now, which made it that much more difficult. But the longer she hesitated, the sadder Kara’s eyes seemed. She came forward, only reaching for Kara once Kara had already begun reaching for her.

            She was in pain from the kryptonite, but she ignored it for Lena’s sake and gave her the warmest hug she could – and considering that this was Kara, that was quite warm.

            As Kara held her, Lena slowly started to relax. She hadn’t realized how tense she had been until she felt the difference in her body. Still, not wanting to overstay her welcome, so to speak, she pulled away shortly after and gestured to the couch. “I’m sorry for worrying you,” she said.

            “No, it’s okay.” As soon as Lena’s back was turned, Kara pulled her glasses down and did the best scan of the apartment she could in the brief amount of time she had. She couldn’t find it. This was bad – she wasn’t sure how long she would be able to hide it from Lena, and more importantly, if Lena was right that her family was trying to lure Supergirl to her and attack with kryptonite…

            They sat down on the couch, and Lena looked at her in concern. Kara wasn’t acting quite like herself. “Is everything okay?”

            That was when Kara noticed the bruises on Lena’s neck. “What happened here?” she asked, indicating the same spot on her own neck, not wanting to hurt Lena by touching a bruise.

            “Oh.” Taking that as the reason for Kara acting oddly, she focused back on the matter at hand. “Lex got out of his handcuffs while I was there.” She saw the empathetic pain fill Kara’s eyes, but she only shook her head in response. “I shouldn’t be surprised. He hired an assassin to kill me; why would he hesitate to kill me with his own hands?” she asked, looking away, trying to ignore the pain she knew must have made itself clear in her expression as well.

            _Because you’re his sister,_ she wanted to say, but she knew it would only pour salt in the wound. Instead, she just rested a hand on Lena’s arm.

            That earned a semblance of a smile, but it quickly disappeared as she focused back on the main reason she had asked Kara here. “That’s… related to what I needed to tell you.”

            Kara waited, still leaving her hand on Lena’s arm. She was starting to feel the effects of the kryptonite more, feeling a bit weak, but she was determined to push through at least long enough to hear Lena out.

            “If I can’t find a way to stop it, I’m dying.”

            The blood in her veins seemed to freeze. “Wh-What do you mean?”

            She couldn’t bring herself to look at Kara, knowing that Kara was probably just as terrified as she was – maybe even more so. “When he was choking me, his goal wasn’t to kill me directly, in that moment. He forced me to ingest kryptonite.”

            Everything clicked into place. Fortunately, there was a clear solution: take Lena to the DEO. Alex would be able to help her. “I know how to help you. Or at least, I know somebody who does.”

            Lena finally looked back up at her. “Who?”

            She gave Lena’s arm a soft squeeze. “I’m gonna make a phone call, okay?”

            Lena nodded. Whoever it was, Kara trusted them, so Lena would too.

            Certain that Alex was more likely to offer resistance, at the very least with questions, she called Winn.

            “Hey, everything okay?” he asked, picking up the phone immediately when he saw it was Kara.

            “Um, not really. I need to call in a favor.”

           The first part immediately caught his attention. When he spoke, his voice was slightly high with worry. “Sure, of course.”

            “Okay. Don’t tell Alex or J’onn about this right now. And I’ll explain everything later. I need you to bring me and a friend of mine to the DEO. I’ll text you the address. The sooner the better?” Both for Lena’s sake and her own.

            He certainly had a lot of questions, but he could hear the veiled urgency in Kara’s voice and knew she had some sort of very real reasons to want things expedited. “Yeah, okay. Send me the address and I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

            “Thanks, Winn.” She ended the call, then texted him the address, having to move her hand from Lena’s arm in order to do so.

            Lena couldn’t deny slightly missing the contact, but she was relieved Kara seemed to somehow have a handle on the situation. She looked at her with questions in her eyes, but she could hardly bring herself to care about them in light of the fact that she may not die after all.

            Kara did see them when she turned her attention back to Lena. “I’ll explain things later, but for now, we should probably get ready. It’s actually pretty close by, so he’ll be here soon.”

            “Alright.” Lena had her phone in her hand, and fortunately, her purse was still on the floor next to the couch where she had left it when she got home. That made getting ready quite simple, as all she had to do was pick up her purse and put her phone inside. She was about to look at Kara with mischief and comment on already being set to go, but the relief was potent and emotion filled her eyes instead. “Thank you.”

            “You don’t need to thank me,” she said softly.

            She smiled nervously as she confessed, “I used to think—… But when I realized I might actually be about to die, I was terrified.” She hadn’t really meant to say the first part, and it made her nervous that she had. Nervous that Kara would see her differently. When her mother had found out…

            Well. There was no need to rehash that.

            Kara studied Lena’s expression, her heart completely breaking as she realized that the implication was exactly what it sounded like. “I won’t pry,” she promised. “But if you ever want to tell me about it, I’m here.”

            She released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. “Thank you.”

            Kara reached out and took Lena’s hand. “And you don’t need to be scared anymore – I’m taking you to the best doctor in the world, who specializes in, um… alien things, basically. Like kryptonite. I’m sure she’ll know what to do.”

            Lena could usually tell when someone’s confidence in a matter was a farce, so she could see Kara’s certainty. If Kara was so certain that there was no reason to worry, then unless the doctor said otherwise, she wouldn’t. “I take it this is Supergirl’s doctor?” It couldn’t be Supergirl herself – Supergirl attempting to treat somebody’s kryptonite exposure sounded like a bad idea on multiple levels.

            “Yeah. When Supergirl needs a doctor, she goes straight to her.” Or she goes straight to Supergirl, but the details weren’t that important right now. Then she remembered that Alex had introduced herself to Lena before. As an FBI agent. “So… the place I’m taking you, the DEO, is really supposed to be top secret. I think it’s okay for you to go there because what you were exposed to was an alien substance. But Winn is probably going to be here before I’d have the time to explain what the DEO is, so… Do you want to go down?”

            “That’s probably a good idea.” She did wonder about what Kara wasn’t telling her. There had to be some reason that, despite initially saying she wouldn’t explain things at the moment, she had begun to explain anyway. –Oh. Maybe Kara was warning her about the reactions she’d probably get as a Luthor walking into a top secret place. She was more than used to reactions like that, though.

            Lena was very careful as she pushed herself up from the couch, trying to minimize the extent to which getting up would make her feel dizzier. Kara hovered worriedly, seeing the unsteadiness with which Lena stood. She took Lena’s hand, letting her lead the way so she could set the pace. Touching Lena worsened her own weakness and pain, as there was nothing but a thin layer between her and the kryptonite in Lena’s bloodstream, but she ignored that in favor of making sure Lena was okay.

* * *

 

            On their way into the DEO, every glance in their direction was met with a stern look from Kara. They were almost to the medical bay when Lena stumbled, Kara the only reason she didn’t fall, then the only thing keeping her standing. When Kara looked at her, she noticed the pain in Lena’s expression.

            “Just a little more, okay? We’re almost there.” Honestly, Kara had more than half a mind to simply pick Lena up and carry her the rest of the way. It wasn’t like she was going to be able to hide that she was Supergirl much longer anyway… Only thing was, she knew she was significantly weaker than usual – she could feel it, and she could feel the pain coursing through her body, worse by the minute as she stayed so close to Lena. She didn’t want to risk dropping her.

            She looked up at Kara, fear in her eyes as she wondered how much longer she had left. It probably hadn’t been more than a few hours since she was exposed and things had already gotten this bad. The entire area was spinning. It was all she could do to try to stand on her own strength instead of relying completely on Kara.

            “I’ve got you. It’s okay. I won’t let you fall,” Kara promised.

            “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to put up with this.” In truth, this was also a slight cover for her own embarrassment. Nobody had ever seen her so weak. She managed to push on, taking unsteady steps, but she was still very much reliant on Kara.

            She shook her head, opening the door to one of the examination rooms. “It’s no problem. It’s what friends do, you know?”

            Lena started to laugh, but abruptly stopped as she felt like she might throw up. “I wouldn’t know.”

            “Well, you do now.” She eased Lena onto the bed, perched on the edge of it. After a second of thought, looking at the way Lena seemed somehow even more pale than usual, she nudged the trashcan toward her just in case.

            Lena didn’t miss the motion. It was hard to be too embarrassed given she was beginning to feel uncertain again about whether she was going to survive this and she was just glad she didn’t have to go through it alone, but seriously, her dignity was in tatters.

            Another look at Lena, frowning. Kara touched the back of her hand to Lena’s forehead and found it cool and clammy. “Are you cold?”

            “I don’t know,” she replied honestly. Her temperature didn’t feel right, but beneath the pain and vertigo and nausea, that was really the least of her concerns.

            Kara retrieved a blanket and wrapped it around Lena’s shoulders. It was thin, but hopefully it was better than nothing. “I’m gonna call, um, the doctor.”

            Lena nodded, watching Kara perch on the edge of a counter. She felt like lying down, but was afraid that she would lose consciousness. If she could wake up and feel better, then that would be more than fine, but as things stood, that seemed like a terrible idea.

            “Hey. Yeah—actually, I’m at the DEO? Where are you? –Oh, thank goodness. No, I’m fine, but there’s kind of… Can you get to the med bay, like now? Thanks.” Kara ended the call, finally turning her attention back to Lena, who… actually didn’t seem to be paying any attention to her. The distance had been a slight reprieve from the kryptonite, but she couldn’t bring herself to do anything but come closer. “Lena?”

            She offered the best smile she could – always her instinct when it came to Kara. “Sorry, I’m a little…” She averted her eyes, allowing her walls to drop. When she tried to meet Kara’s eyes, the effort was rather challenging thanks to the room still spinning, but she did her best. “I’m terrified.”

            Kara pulled her into a gentle, gentle hug. “I understand.” She believed in Alex, but she was still afraid for Lena.

            Resting her head on Kara’s shoulder, face hiding in long blond hair, made her feel minutely better. Her eyes started to flutter shut, and that’s when she forced herself to pull away. The motion didn’t agree with her stomach, and she just barely managed to get to the trashcan rather than throwing up _on Kara_. That would have been beyond nightmarish.

            Of course, it was right then that Alex arrived. Greeted by the sight of slightly green-glowing vomit being thrown up. “What the hell?”

            Lena could understand the sentiment.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: panic attack. That section can easily be skipped -- it starts when Alex goes to draw blood and ends shortly after.

             Rubbing Lena’s back, Kara told Alex their situation and Lena’s symptoms as far as she could tell.

            Alex listened, already formulating a plan in her mind. It sounded like things were already pretty bad, and if this was the same type of synthetic kryptonite that had caused Metallo to explode…

            When Lena’s stomach seemed to have calmed for the time being, Alex handed her a paper cup of water, which she accepted gratefully. After a couple of sips and a few seconds’ pause, testing it, she leaned into Kara’s side. To say she felt like shit would be an understatement, and she felt entirely disgusting, but Kara’s arm around her was warm and comforting. “I suppose this explains how you know Supergirl,” she commented lightly.

            Kara smiled nervously under Alex’s _look_. Yep, she’d brought Lena to the DEO without even revealing herself to be Supergirl. Though in all fairness, when exactly in all of this would she have told her? But she was going to have to sooner or later, at this rate. There was only so long she could hide how the kryptonite was affecting her.

            Though she wanted to pull Kara aside and talk to her about the kryptonite exposure – because she could tell from more than just the crinkle that Kara was in pain – she knew there was no good way to do it now. On to other things for now, she supposed. Kara was safe at the DEO and could be under sun lamps in a matter of seconds and would be fine, but Lena was definitely in bad shape. She just needed to find out how bad. “I need to do a scan and some blood work. Do you think you can handle that?”

            “If the alternative is dying, I suppose I’ll find a way,” she quipped, attempting to pick up whatever scraps of dignity she might still be able to find. She managed to get to her feet, but her legs trembled and nearly gave way until Kara held her up.

            “The machine is down the hall?” Kara confirmed.

            “Yeah. I’ll show you which one.” Alex went on ahead to lead the way, though she gave a concerned look in Lena’s direction. Was she going to be able to walk? Her intuition told her that not only was she not going to be able to walk, but that it wouldn’t be long before Kara simply picked her up, pressing her body all but directly against kryptonite some more. Nope, time to stop that before it even started. “Lena, is it okay for me to carry you? I promise I won’t drop you; I’ve carried people before.”

            She hated every second of this more and more as time went on, but she doubted she had much choice but to agree. “That might… expedite things significantly.”

            With Lena’s agreement, Alex carefully scooped Lena into her arms.

            On the way there, short though it was, Lena couldn’t help musing about the unlikelihood of this situation. She half wondered if she was going to wake up at some point and discover that the last hour or so had been a dream. She never would have dared imagine she would have not only one person, but _two_ people actually wanting to help her. Looking out for her. And sure, she had no idea whether or not Alex would help her if it weren’t for Kara, but… still, until having Kara in her life, she doubted there was anyone out there who would even care if she died. Other than those that would celebrate one less Luthor in the world, of course.

            She was rather glad when her morbid thoughts were interrupted by arriving at the room where she was to be scanned. Alex instructed her on how to position herself, then turned it on.

            “I want to see if there’s any kryptonite still in your stomach, or if it’s all already metabolized into your bloodstream,” Alex explained. With how severe things already were, the outcome was definitely much better if there wasn’t even more left to enter her bloodstream or sitting in her stomach.

            Lena nodded, trying to ignore the slightly claustrophobic feeling she had sitting under the machine. She tried to focus on taking deep breaths, and to her relief, it wasn’t long before it was finished.

            Alex hovered just long enough for Lena to guess what was coming next before picking her up and carrying her. She supposed it wasn’t like her strength was going to magically come back. Maybe she should be grateful that Alex had spared her having to admit as much.

            Soon she was back in the initial medical room, propped up sitting on the bed.

            “So like I said, I need to draw some blood… Do you faint?” Alex asked as she prepared the supplies. If so, she needed to be prepared for that.

            “No. At least, I never have before. But… I’m not a fan of needles, and I already feel dizzy, so I can’t guarantee I won’t.”

            “Okay. If it would help to lie down, you can.”

            She didn’t want to, because it would only leave her feeling more vulnerable, and that meant being further on edge from the get-go. As she waited, Kara took her hand. It helped, but she knew she was still more than likely to end up panicking. “I would prefer not to watch, but can you let me know what’s happening? I don’t like being in the dark.”

            Alex nodded, understanding. “Sure. Try to take deep breaths, okay?” she reminded her, noticing the way Lena seemed to hold her breath as soon as she took her arm.

            Her chest felt tight, but she did her best to follow Alex’s advice.

            “Right now I’m just cleaning the area,” she said. Already, she could hear Lena’s breath becoming harsh, like it was hard for her to breathe.

            “I’m here,” Kara said, giving Lena’s hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s gonna be okay. Alex knows what she’s doing.”

            Lena nodded, though a surge of dizziness passed through her at the action, making her fear she really would faint.

            “I’m going to put the needle in on the count of three,” Alex said. “It won’t take very long, okay? 1… 2… 3.” She did as she said, beginning to draw the blood.

            Lena gripped Kara’s hand, trying to remind herself to breathe and how completely irrational this fear was. It was just a needle, and it was being used by someone experienced. And she trusted Kara with her wellbeing so much that if Kara trusted Alex, even without knowing her, Lena trusted her too. Her attempts to rationalize the fear away didn’t make it disappear, but it seemed to alleviate a fraction of the pressure on her chest. Her breaths still came rough, audible, but it wasn’t as suffocating.

            “We’re halfway there. You’re doing great.”

            Only halfway. The irrational part of her brain wasn’t sure she could handle it that long, and she started shaking.

           “Lena,” Kara said gently, hoping that taking her mind off it might help. “Hey, everything is going to be okay. I’m here. You’re safe. It’ll be finished before you know it.”

            It didn’t help. All she could think of was the time she had gotten blood drawn as a little girl – she didn’t even know why – and Lillian had only scolded her for getting scared. She remembered the harsh words that had been directed at her, even though she doubted she had been more than eight years old. She wanted to ask Alex to stop – her vision was starting to get fuzzy – but she knew she had no choice in the matter. That only served to make her feel trapped.

            Affected by the kryptonite, Lena’s grip managed to actually be painful for Kara, but she tolerated it nonetheless. She tried to figure out what to do to help Lena, who was obviously freaking out and for reasons she didn’t fully understand, but she was afraid of making it worse again.

            Alex wished she could be finished. It was obvious that Lena wasn’t coping well, and she didn’t really know how to help her either. Lena seemed far enough into the panic that she doubted reminding her to breathe was going to do anything but cause her to focus on the present difficulty in doing so. It was impossible not to notice the way Lena was nearly gasping for breath. “We’re almost done, okay? Just a little bit more.”

            She didn’t know how to respond, not even sure she could get enough air to say anything anyway, so she didn’t answer. All she knew was that this literally could not be over with soon enough. She almost wished she _would_ faint, except that with the whole kryptonite situation she was too afraid she might not wake up.

            “I’m about to take the needle out,” Alex told her. She didn’t really expect a response, and she thought it better just to get it over with for her than to count again, so she didn’t pause before doing so. “Now I’ve just got to finish taking care of your arm, and we’ll be all done.” She kept her voice calm as she pressed some gauze to where the needle had been, not having been prepared for it to bleed. She was quite sure that telling Lena this unexpected development would be the exact opposite of helpful, so she simply didn’t acknowledge the situation as abnormal in any way. It had to be an effect of the kryptonite.

            The bleeding took a while to stop, and Alex saw the concerned look Kara directed at the gauze as the blood continued to soak through. Finally, though, it finished. She threw the gauze out, not wanting Lena to see it, then put the band-aid on. “Okay, you’re all finished.” She let go of Lena’s arm, and Lena promptly withdrew it to wrap around her body.

            Moving to sit on the bed, Kara offered a hug, and Lena all but fell into her arms. Not knowing what else to do, Kara just held her close, rubbing her back.

            Alex put a hand on Kara’s shoulder, making sure Kara was paying attention to what she was about to say in case Lena was too overwhelmed to process it right now. “I’m going to go to the lab. I’ll get this figured out.” To Kara, she added, “Call me if you need _anything_.” She was worried about both of them, knowing that although Kara was toughing it out, the kryptonite was making her suffer.

            Kara nodded. She knew Alex was worried about her, and she couldn’t deny that the kryptonite was starting to make her feel dizzy as well, especially being this close. But she wouldn’t leave Lena. She couldn’t.

            The soft touch gradually grounded Lena, reassuring her as to where she was and who she was with. And there wasn’t a needle in her arm anymore – she had been only half-conscious of Alex’s actions, the words completely lost to her. But the needle was gone, and Kara was holding her. She slowly started to catch her breath.

            When she heard Lena’s breath calming, Kara gave a silent sigh of relief of her own. She hadn’t doubted that Lena would be okay, knowing it would pass eventually, but she was still glad that Lena was moving toward that.

            Finally, Lena calmed. She felt like she had been hit by a truck, utterly exhausted, and she let herself lean heavily into Kara for a few minutes before slowly sitting up. “Well. Now that I’ve thoroughly humiliated myself…” she murmured.

            “You have done no such thing.” Kara tucked some hair behind Lena’s ear, away from where it had been sticking to her forehead.

            She managed a smile. Kara was far too kind to her, she thought. Remembering Alex, she glanced around the room. “Alex must have gone to analyze it?”

            Had Lena really been so distressed she hadn’t even realized? “Yeah.”

            Lena was silent for a while, looking away from Kara. Nausea was rising up again, and she did her best to fight it away. She hated for Kara to see her like this. If it were an ordinary illness, she definitely would have insisted Kara leave her a long time ago, but… with the situation being what it was, she didn’t want to be alone. The full mortification would set in later, assuming she survived this, but the uncertainty there made her not want Kara to leave her side.

            Meanwhile, Kara felt Lena’s forehead again. She felt feverish now. “Do you feel warm?”

            She made a soft sound of agreement. “But it’s… honestly, that’s the least of my concerns right now.”

            Maybe so, but it was the only thing she could do anything about. She put a hand on Lena’s arm and gently squeezed. “I’m not going far, but I’m gonna get something. Lay down?”

            Lena did as requested, watching Kara retrieve a washcloth and run cool water over it. After wringing it out so it wasn’t excessively wet, she sat down by Lena’s bedside again, folding it and placing it on Lena’s forehead.

            She couldn’t help but to smile as she turned slightly, just enough that she could face Kara.

            “I don’t know if this actually helps with the temperature, but… my mom always used to do that for me growing up, and it always made me feel better.”

            “It makes me feel better, too,” she said, her gaze meeting Kara’s. It wasn’t about the washcloth so much as about having someone who cared about her. “Your mother sounds very kind.”

            Kara smiled wistfully. Eliza was always kind, too, taking care of her when she was upset or needed anything, but that wasn’t the same as her memories of Krypton. The ones that hadn’t been corrupted, that is. “She was. My parents’ jobs were really important, but they always made sure one of them or my aunt was there to stay home with me when I was sick.”

            She started to attempt a smile when her stomach lurched, and she just barely got over the trashcan in time before starting to throw up again. She felt someone holding her hair out of the way, and she knew it must be Kara.

            When she was sure Lena was done, Kara handed her some water again. The washcloth had fallen on the floor, but she ignored it.

            She took careful sips before laying back down again. “Thank you.”

            Kara shook her head. “It’s just what family does for each other, isn’t it?”

            A bitter smile. “I wouldn’t know. My memories before being adopted are fuzzy at best, and the Luthors… Do I really need to say anything? Mother had no patience to take care of a sick little girl, especially not one she didn’t care about in the first place. Not to mention that I was pretty much quarantined to my room, because she didn’t want herself or Lex to get sick.”

            She pulled her into a hug, as best she could from their current positions. “I’m so sorry. You deserved so much better.”

            Lena relaxed into the hug. “I have you now. That’s more than enough.”

            Still, she couldn’t help but to think that Lena had been alone for far too long. “You’ll always have me,” she agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to let you know how much your comments mean to me. ; w; I don't tend to reply to them because I don't know what to say, but I always feel really encouraged by them.

            It was a struggle for Lena to stay awake, but she and Kara talked a bit while Alex worked on figuring out how to help her. Meanwhile, though, Kara was getting dizzy herself. She tried to hide it, hands gripping the seat of her chair in an attempt to steady herself.

            “…Kara? Is everything okay?” Lena asked, worried as she began to notice her acting differently.

            “Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” That was a lie. Her head was pounding and it seemed like every nerve in her body was on fire. She had a high pain tolerance by this point, but she was past the threshold of what she could hide.

            “Don’t lie to me. What’s going on?”

            Nope, there was no way out of this. Or maybe there was, if she could think clearly, but the slight tilting of the room indicated that that wasn’t happening. “This really is… so many levels of not how I wanted to tell you,” she admitted. “But I’m, um… I’m Supergirl.”

            Lena blinked. First of all, how in the world had she not noticed that by now? Second of all, why hadn’t Kara told her until now? But more importantly, “Then the kryptonite, it’s hurting you. Kara, why—No, I know why, but you didn’t need to push yourself. I can manage on my own; goodness knows I’ve had enough experience with it. I never would have wanted you to stay with me if I had known it was hurting you.”

            “I know, but I couldn’t just leave you… I’ll be fine.” She forced the best smile she could. She knew that Lena was in pain, too, and she was determined to tough it out with her.

            “No. I mean, yes, you will be, but listen. I don’t have any choice right now in myself being sick, but it’s not right for you to have to be hurt just because I am.”

            “It’s nothing compared to how worried I would be if I left you, anyway,” she excused. For all that she did, in fact, care about her own wellbeing, Kara was definitely too self-sacrificing for her own good sometimes.

            She gave her a look. “Do I need to call Alex back in here?”

            “Alex isn’t going to make me leave, either.”

            Lena sighed. Her thinking wasn’t the clearest right now either, making this difficult. “If our positions were reversed, would you want me to continue putting myself through pain to be by your side?”

            She shifted, knowing she wouldn’t. “That’s different.”

            “Why? Because you’re Supergirl?”

            Kara nodded. Sacrificing oneself was just what a hero did, wasn’t it?

            “It’s not different. Your skin may be ‘of steel,’ but you aren’t invulnerable. You’re my friend and you’re in pain. Those are the only things that matter to me right now.”

            She smiled, running a hand through Lena’s hair. “There’s nothing you can say that’s going to make me go anywhere. You, or Alex, or anyone else.”

            _There’s nothing you can say that’s going to make me go anywhere_. She wanted to continue being irritated, but she couldn’t. Those words were more reassuring than Kara could have possibly known. “Please take care of yourself. I don’t know what I would do without you,” she whispered, putting all her cards on the table. (Well… most of them, at least.) She was so exhausted that she couldn’t stop the tears from welling in her eyes.

            “You don’t have to,” she promised, giving her a gentle hug, pain be damned. “This isn’t enough to kill me. I’ll make a full recovery, and so will you.”

            Lena smiled softly, weakly returning the hug. She couldn’t believe she had a friend as amazing as Kara. She didn’t think she deserved her friendship.

            Holding Lena was even more painful, and she was worried about Lena falling asleep, so she begrudgingly let go.

            _I love you,_ Lena nearly said as she looked into Kara’s eyes. Now wasn’t the time. She pushed the words down, wanting anything of that nature to wait until they weren’t both in pain and she was definitely not dying, but her expression spoke volumes.

            They shared a moment, gazing into each other’s eyes, until they were interrupted by Alex bursting into the room. “Okay, I think I found a cure.” She stopped, looking them over, feeling the moment she had just ruined and raising her eyebrows before moving back to the immediate issue. “Lena, how are you holding up?”

            “Well, I’m still conscious and breathing,” she answered.

            As concerned as she was about Lena, Alex couldn’t deny being more concerned about Kara. Granted, Kara’s life was in no danger. It was just her bias as Kara’s big sister. “You’ll need an IV,” she told Lena. “Is there anything I can do to make that easier on you?”

            “I don’t know. But it’s not like I have much of a choice, so I’ll manage.”

            Well… Lena had a point there. It wasn’t like there was any alternative. If Alex’s calculations were correct, without treatment, Lena would probably not have made it more than a couple more hours. As she set up the IV bag, she explained, “I’m going to administer a modified diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid. It’ll bind to the kryptonite in your bloodstream, blocking your body from absorbing more of it. You probably won’t feel completely better until it’s been out of your system a while, but it will stop the absorption from reaching lethal dose.

            “Fortunately, I don’t foresee any long-term effects, physically. Because of the instability of this synthetic kryptonite, I imagine very little of it has been fully absorbed.” She started to disinfect Lena’s arm, preparing to put the IV in. “I’m going to put the IV in, okay?”

            “Yes.” At least the needle’s insertion she knew would be a quick process.

            And sure enough, it was only a couple of seconds before the needle was securely held in place. “You’ll probably start to feel somewhat better in an hour or two, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you still felt tired and whatnot for a couple of days, so try to take it easy. I can probably give you some painkillers later, but I think we should wait until you’ve started to recover, since it’s already got you pretty tired.” She looked at how utterly exhausted Lena seemed. The woman seemed like she was barely staying awake. “I want you to stay awake for now. I’ll come check on you again in 20 minutes.”

            “Okay.” When Alex left the room again, Lena told her, “When I can finally sleep, I want you to… go do whatever you need to do to recover from the kryptonite exposure yourself. Deal?” She wanted Kara to leave now so that the kryptonite wouldn’t be causing her pain anymore, but she knew there was no chance that was going to happen. A compromise seemed the best option.

            That seemed pretty fair, she supposed. She wanted to stay until she saw for herself that Lena was feeling back to normal, but Lena’s suggestion seemed like a reasonable compromise. “Deal.”

            Needing to talk in order to stay awake, Lena spoke the first words that came to her mind. “Kara? I’m really lucky to have you as my friend.”

            Kara blushed, smiling shyly. “I could say the say the same.”

            She gave a soft smile. Nobody would feel that way except for Kara. Not about her. “Thank you – I mean it, with all my heart – thank you for today. Thank you for being my friend.”

            Kara ran her fingers through Lena’s hair. “Thank you for being mine.”

            Her lips parted to respond, but the only words she could imagine coming next were _I love you_. Instead, she placed her hand on Kara’s cheek. She felt pulled to her, like gravity itself drew them together, and being this close made her almost feel a little breathless.

            Kara would have wondered why Lena’s heart was beating so fast if not for the fact that her own was doing the same. Oh, Rao… She pulled away, because it was all she could do not to kiss her.

            Lena was quiet a while, feeling comfortable in the silence between them, before her need to speak returned. “So… earlier when you spoke of your mother, that must have been on Krypton?”

            She nodded, regretting it as it made her dizzier.

            “Now probably isn’t the best time for it, since we’re both… But if you want to tell me, I would love to hear more about it.”

            Kara smiled brightly, as though the world wasn’t spinning around her and the pain wasn’t excruciating. “I would love to. Maybe not right now, but sometime.” She loved getting to talk about her home planet. There was heartache involved, but it also felt nostalgic and warm.

            The two of them chatted a while longer about trivial things, neither of them really having the energy or focus to continue a deep conversation. Finally, Alex came to check on them. “How do you feel?”

            Lena assessed herself. “I don’t know that I’m feeling any better, but I’m no longer feeling steadily worse, so I suppose that’s an improvement.”

            She smiled, relieved. “Then the treatment is working. You can get some sleep if you want – probably should.” The look she directed at Kara indicated the same to her, though it was more sun lamps in Kara’s case than sleep.

            Kara knew Alex wouldn’t leave without her agreeing to give herself some time to recuperate, but also that Alex wouldn’t out her as Supergirl. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to tell Alex quite yet that she had already told Lena. “I’m going to stay with Lena until she falls asleep, but then I’ll get some rest too, I promise.”

            Seeming satisfied with that, Alex nodded and walked away to set up the lamps.

            “You don’t have to stay,” she said, a smile tugging at her lips. “I’m just going to go to sleep.”

            “I know. But I want to, at least until you fall asleep.” She ran a hand through Lena’s hair, and when Lena closed her eyes and relaxed, she repeated the gesture, intent on doing so until Lena fell asleep. “Don’t worry, I promise I won’t watch you sleep.”

            Already half asleep, Lena mumbled, “If you did that, I suppose I would have to blush ‘the color of the communist manifesto’…”

            “Huh?”

            Lena curled up some on her side, facing Kara. “Good night.”

            She smiled. “Good night.”

            Her breath and heartbeat were slowed into sleep, but just on the fringes of consciousness, one last sentence left her lips, completely unbeknownst to her. “I love you, Kara.”

            She froze for a moment. Then again, Lena did say she was family… “I love you, too.” She stroked Lena’s hair a few more times. Lena remained completely asleep, so quietly, she left.

            When Kara came to lay under the lamps, Alex could tell something was on her mind. “Worried?”

            “No. You said she’ll be fine and I trust you.” Kara let the lamps start to recharge her, relieved as some of the pain started to fade.

            “Then what’s with the crinkle?”

            She bit her lip, wondering whether telling Alex was really a good idea. But keeping things from Alex was something she hated, so she said, “Lena was talking as she fell asleep, and when she was almost completely asleep, she said she loves me.”

            That was no surprise whatsoever to Alex, but she didn’t comment on how obvious it had been. At least not yet. “And how do you feel about that?” she asked, proceeding with a little more caution this time as she realized she had misled her in their last conversation about a suitor.

            “I… I don’t know. She said I’m family to her, the other day, so I don’t know if maybe she just means it like… sisters or something?”

            “She definitely doesn’t just mean it like sisters.”

            The surprise was evident in Kara’s expression. “How do you know?”

            “The way she looks at you.” Lena looked at her like Kara was her moon, stars, and sky, and even with their interaction so brief and Lena being sick, it was impossible not to notice that.

            Kara was quiet, unsure of her own feelings. Wasn’t she supposed to be in love with Mon-El? Even if something about that still didn’t sit right…

            “You know, you look at her the same way,” Alex pushed gently. She had thought, from Kara’s preoccupation with Mon-El’s feelings for her, that his feelings were reciprocated. But when she saw Kara look at Lena, suddenly things made a lot more sense. And maybe, after steering her wrong about Mon-El and inadvertently pressuring her into something she obviously hadn’t actually wanted, she shouldn’t push here, but… she wanted Kara to know she was okay with it.

            “I do?” She certainly thought highly of Lena, that much she knew for sure. But… in love with her? It made so much sense, and yet scared her at the same time. Though for all that it scared her, it also felt _right_. “Is that… okay?”

            “Of course it is. I want you to be happy too, Kara. If Lena hurts you, well, that’s going to be another story, but if she makes you happy… Just promise you’ll be careful.”

            “I promise.”

            Alex smiled. “Then next time, I’ll go get the alien and you go get the girl.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably my favorite chapter. The fluff between Kara and Lena near the end is probably the most adorable fluff I've ever written.
> 
> If you're curious about the odd comment Lena made (blushing the color of the communist manifesto), the reason she knows that phrase is explained in the next chapter. (Not to Kara, however, because Lena would definitely die of embarrassment.) If you're not sure where it's from, you won't spoil anything for yourself by googling it.
> 
> Anyway, a fun fact! I did not just totally make up the diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid treatment thing. (Um, I don't think I could come up with that if I tried. Medicine is not my field of expertise.) That's an actual treatment for radiation poisoning (source: Mayo Clinic), though as Alex said it was modified a bit here to account for kryptonite instead of a real element.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really want to make sure I get this posted before Monday's episode, so I'm putting it up now.  
> Anyway, on to the final chapter! :D

            When Lena woke up, she felt something tickling her cheek. She slowly opened her eyes only to find her face inches from a mass of blond hair. A blush rose, and she couldn’t bring herself to pull away. Kara was holding her hand again, she realized.

            Lena closed her eyes again, but when she heard the door open, she looked over. It was Alex, presumably coming to check up on them. “Please tell me Kara got some proper sleep and hasn’t been like this the whole time?”

            She smiled, not failing to notice that Lena’s first concern was for Kara’s wellbeing. “No. She got some actual rest, but she wanted to make sure she was here when you woke up.”

            Knowing how much Kara cared for her was touching and overwhelming at the same time. “Thank you for all your help. I’m sorry that our meeting was once again under unfortunate circumstances.”

            Alex shook her head. “It happens. It’s not your fault he’s trying to kill you.”

            The way Lena seemed to shrink slightly, averting her eyes, made Alex wonder if Lena somehow blamed herself.

            “It isn’t your fault,” she said again. When Lena chanced another look at her, their gazes met, and she held it, reassuring.

            A small smile formed. Even if they weren’t related by blood, the family resemblance between the Danvers sisters was unmistakable.

            “How are you feeling?”

            “I still feel a little bit like I was hit by a truck, but I don’t feel like I’m dying anymore, so that’s a plus,” she quipped.

            “Glad to hear it. Do you want some painkillers?”

            She shook her head, relieved when it didn’t make her dizzy this time. “It’s not so bad I can’t stand it, so I would rather not.” Truth be told, the idea of being on something that made her self-control slip made her uncomfortable. Of course, little did she know what she had already told Kara…

            “Okay. You should probably drink some water… Is there anything else I can get you? Do you feel up to eating?”

            “I think it’s alright, but I don’t want to wake Kara. Or eat without her.” Though realistically speaking, it would be wise to start out with something light and see how it settled, and she doubted Kara would be jealous of her eating crackers or something. Still, it was food and this was Kara, after all.

            She smiled again, handing Lena some water. “You care a lot about her, don’t you?”

            Lena sat up just enough to take some sips of water. “She’s a very dear friend to me.”

            Uh-huh. Friend, sure. She wasn’t going to bring up what Lena had said to Kara earlier, because it wasn’t her place, but she did want to address the topic. “You make her really happy, and I can see how much you care about her.”

            Warmth blossomed in her chest as Alex confirmed it: she made Kara happy. She wondered if she made Kara as happy as Kara made her. If that was even possible. “She makes me really happy, too.” It felt strange to talk about this with Kara’s sister, but it was nothing Kara herself didn’t already know she felt.

            “Wherever your friendship goes, I’ll support it.” When Lena looked at her with a bit of surprise, she couldn’t help but to be slightly amused. “Yes, I noticed how you feel about her.”

            She smiled, looking down at Kara and biting her lip. “I don’t mind if she doesn’t feel the same. I’m happy just to be her friend.”

            Wow, Lena had it bad, she thought as she saw the woman _bite her lip_ looking at Kara. “I think that’s something for the two of you to figure out,” she said, because it was definitely not her place to tell Lena how Kara felt.

            Lena shook her head. “I won’t risk ruining what we have.”

            “You wouldn’t. Whatever she may or may not feel romantically, Kara cares about you far too much to lose that,” she reassured her. Maybe that wasn’t really her place to say either, but she couldn’t quite help herself. After inadvertently pushing her toward a relationship that she now realized Kara hadn’t wanted, maybe this was to make up for that.

            “Thank you,” she murmured.

            Alex shook her head. “I’ll leave you be, but let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

            She nodded her agreement. When Alex had left, she put her water on the stand by the bed and laid back down, closing her eyes. She doubted she could fall back asleep, but she couldn’t help reveling in the proximity.

            It wasn’t long before Kara stirred, sleepy blue eyes blinking open to look at Lena.

            Once she felt Kara stir, Lena opened her eyes as well. “Good morning,” she said playfully, suspecting that it was somewhere around 2am.

            “Good morning,” Kara answered, sitting up and stretching her arms. “How do you feel?”

            “I’m still tired and sore, but otherwise, I’m alright. How do you feel?”

            “Glad you’re feeling better. Kind of sleepy… maybe a little hungry.”

           She laughed softly. Of course Kara was hungry. “Maybe we can get some… breakfast, I imagine it would be. Assuming Special Agent Danvers says I can leave, that is.” It felt strange to call her by that title, but it felt too informal just to call her Alex without her permission.

            “I think you can just call her Alex,” Kara said. “And I would _love_ breakfast.”

* * *

 

            Lena having been given a clean bill of health, the two of them sat across from each other in a 24-hour café. Lena kept it simple with a plain bagel, not wanting to push it, while Kara ordered a dozen pastries.

            “So,” Kara broached carefully, “did you know that when you were first starting to fall asleep, you were talking?”

            Uh oh. Based on Kara’s hesitance, she was sure there was something bad coming up. “What did I say?”

            “Well, first you made some really weird comment about ‘blushing the color of the communist manifesto’??”

            Lena took a big sip of tea, buying herself time and mostly hiding her reaction. “Did I?” she asked as nonchalantly as possible, though her blush gave it away. Even busy CEOs weren’t immune from the occasional bout of morbid curiosity, and she really wanted to feign ignorance on this one.

            Fortunately for Lena, that wasn’t the main thing that had caught Kara’s attention. She took a breath to overcome some of her nerves. “That also, um… Well, you said good night… And then you, um, you said… that you love me?”

            She kept her composure, looking at Kara and trying to gauge her reaction.

            “Is that true?”

            Well, there was no way out of this now. Her mouth was slightly dry. “Yes. But I don’t mind if you don’t feel the same; I’m happy just to be your friend.”

            Kara smiled. “I do. Feel the same.”

            If it weren’t for her conversation with Alex earlier, Lena might have been in disbelief that Kara could have feelings for her. As it was, she just smiled back. “Tonight has been… a bit of a roller coaster. But if… you wanted to go out sometime – or in, we could watch a movie and eat potstickers, or anything you want…”

            Lena looked so hopeful, like she still couldn’t completely believe it. Kara leaned across the table to take one of Lena’s hands in hers. “It’s a date.”

            Lena gave her hand a small squeeze. She lowered her voice and teased, “Who would have thought, a Luthor and a Super dating?”


End file.
